Excerpts of Cuban President Fidel Castro's address at Cariforum
Summit

Santo Domingo, Friday 21 August 1998

Cuban President Fidel Castro delivered a speech Friday at the
CARIFORUM Summit. During his address, the Cuban leader dealt with
the issues of globalization, unequal development, the global economy,
the fact that the Caribbean is assigned to play almost no role in
today's globalized world and the need for regional unity to face
current and future challenges.

President Fidel Castro said that globalization is unavoidable,
stressing that humanity cannot survive without it -- but in the world
that is currently being shaped, equal treatment is being given to
countries with very different development levels and capabilities.
The Cuban leader called such practices profoundly unjust.

"Our economies -- which are especially backward and vulnerable as a
consequence of centuries of colonial rule, slavery and looting --
would not be able to successfully participate in the world's economy
without preferential plans and a considerable contribution of
non-renewable resources coming from abroad.

"For 50 years, we have been deceived with the promise that the gap
between the rich and poor will be reduced, an abyss that has not
stopped growing for even one minute during the post-war period. The
so-called reciprocity would be historically unjust and brutally
arbitrary.

"On the basis of the rules and regulations of the World Trade
Organization, they intend to get rid of any instrument that protects
the value of exports and contributes to the integral development of
Caribbean nations and the rest of the Third World, without concern
that such practices take away our sovereignty piece to piece and that
they are threatening to sweep away the identity of each of our
peoples and their rich, varied and in some cases, centuries-old,
cultural traditions."

The Cuban leader went on to say that aid earmarked for development
is being reduced, despite the fact that it could somewhat mitigate
the negative effects of current world economic trends. The foreign
debt continues to grow, said the Cuban President, calling the
increasing deterioration of terms of exchange, a subtle way of
plunder and another obstacle for the development of many countries.

"Amid these tendencies, the Caribbean faces the serious danger of
growing marginalization. Some facts and predominant perceptions
give countries a less important role in the new global order that is
currently being shaped. The survival of our peoples would seem to
have no meaning.

"The banana issue is one example. The economies of the small,
Caribbean exporting countries -- whose participation merely amounts
to one percent of world trade in that product -- could be sacrificed
to benefit two big U.S. transnationals. They want to impose upon us
an economic order in which our small and poor countries will have no
other future but that of being a free zone where the industries and
capital of the powerful will obtain cheap labor, destroy our
environment, waste our resources and multiply their profits without
paying taxes -- when those countries won't even have the modest
custom duties that they obtained before. What will be left to meet
the most pressing needs of our people?

"We cannot resign ourselves to the idea of continuing to compete
with each other in a mad race to make more and more concessions in
order to attract foreign capital and indispensable technologies for
our development."

The Cuban President lashed out at the multi-lateral investment
agreement currently under discussion by the Organization for
Cooperation and Development, which, in his words, intends to move
capital all over the world, annulling states and turning countries
into warehouses where they grab as much profit as possible and
destroy the environment. He went on to say that although the
Caribbean recognizes the role of capital in the world's economy, the
region cannot accept the dismantling of sovereignty and national
development programs. He said that the multilateral investment
agreement is unacceptable to Cuba since it intends to turn the
extraterritorial principles of the anti-Cuban Helms-Burton Law into
an international norm.

President Castro then referred to the economic and financial
speculation that today's neo-liberal globalization has encouraged,
where an immense amount of money is being spent to look for more
money without producing anything, without any relation to real trade
in goods and services -- unleashing crisis, mass migration, diseases
and political and social instability.

"In the midst of so many difficulties, we admire the resolute
efforts of CARICOM for the well-being of our peoples and the
development of our economies. Tourism and multi-destination could
become the main promoter of Caribbean integration, stepped up trade,
investment and contacts among our peoples. We should project our
region to the world as the most attractive tour destination, a unique
and diverse destination that at the same time, provides an example of
how our environment and natural resources can be preserved.

"As far as the development of tourism in our region is concerned,
Cubans are not and will not be competitors, but close partners and
friends in cooperation. We deeply appreciate the support Cuba has
received from Caribbean countries, which has made it possible for our
participation as observers in the upcoming negotiations for the new
accord of the Lome Convention. We'll always prioritize the interest
of the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries that make up that
convention. We have no intention of getting anything that even
slightly affects the preferences of member countries and we will work
with them, with dedication and loyalty, to maintain and increase such
just preferences."

President Fidel Castro said that unity is the only weapon that
Caribbean countries have to face today's challenges and called on
them to extend that unity to Central and South America, Africa and
other continents. He stressed that the problems the Caribbean faces
today are common to those of the Third World and all of humanity,
requiring global solutions.

"The future depends on our own efforts. Globalization is inevitable
and historical. But we must fight for a globalization of fraternity
and cooperation among peoples, of sustainable development, of just
distribution and the rational use of the plentiful material and
spiritual wealth that men and women are capable of creating with
their hands and intelligence. This is an indispensable condition
for an unavoidable common homeland and a humanity that can and must
endure."

The preceding were excerpts from the speech delivered by Cuban
President Fidel Castro on Friday, 21 August 1998, at the CARIFORUM
Summit in Santo Domingo.

[c] 1998, Radio Habana Cuba
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